October 2011

For the price, the ASUS Play Air HDP-R3 Wireless-N Media Player is excellent. I had it up and running on our wireless network in minutes (I choose not to attach any local storage) and connected to our plasma TV using HDMI. We have a large video library stored on external USB drives that are mounted on both Windows and Linux hosts. The HDP-R3 was able to see these “folders” and effortlessly play the media without any jitter. It plays the media more smoothly than a PC on the network in some cases.

One small drawback — connecting to the wireless network takes a minute or two. Initially, it took so long, I thought that I manually had to connect every time the unit was powered up, but it just takes a few minutes. If you leave the unit on, it stays connected for the most part, but every user is going to have to learn how to check the wireless connection and perhaps re-connect the system.

I had hesitated to buy a wireless media player because the units were 3 to 4 times the prices of this one and many had hacked wireless capability as and add-on USB adapter. This product, with its built-in wireless adapter, is the perfect solution for those who have video libraries they want to access via their wireless network.

Kanata, ON — A dark, gloomy cloud settled over historic Entrust Cryptography Field as the 4-0 Irish Stout took on the 0-4 Peter’s Pirates after the OFL bye week. Rosters were depleted as the Stout were only able to round up their All-OFL QB, Paul “The Mad Bomber” McRae, who was suffering from a sore lower back, Kirk “Flash” Ireland, James “Smooth” Muir and Bevan “Hominid” Watkiss. The Pirates countered with Peter “The Rabbit” Arseneau and a trio of rookie receivers, Gary “Hamstring” Hoffe, Tong “Thumbs Together” Jia and Liang “Hang On” Yao. Despite knowing they were severely undermanned, the plucky Pirates decided to challenge the mighty Stout to a 4on4 matchup.

After failing to move the ball the Pirates punted and the Stout began what was to be an outstandingly efficient offensive performance by completing a pair of passes culminating in a touchdown from McRae to Muir. Watkiss secured the conversion on a comeback route and the Stout led 7-0. McRae continued his perfect day on the next two possessions, throwing touchdowns to Watkiss and Ireland before missing on a conversion to Muir, who caught the ball out of bounds. The 20-0 lead held as Watkiss intercepted Arseneau on the Stout 1 yard line. “Well, at least it wasn’t fourth down,” said McRae, “Bevan did a good job there.” “Oooga”, responded the happy Watkiss as he lined up at tight end.

Several dropped passes stunted Pirate drives and the Stout kept the pressure on with a pair of touchdown passes from McRae to Muir and a conversion from Watkiss to Muir on the reverse. On the final series, the Stout were backed up inside their 20 yard line and McRae uncorked a bomb for Ireland, who slipped past a racing Hoffe for the touchdown on the post pattern. Unfortunately, Hoffe’s hamstring gave out on the play and the game was called after the conversion pass to Muir.

At the conclusion of the game, Arseneau took exception to McRae’s hearty handshake. “What is he trying to do, show me up?”, he said through clenched teeth, “We’ll be ready next week — then I’ll do the handshaking.”

“I didn’t see the problem,” said McRae, “I learned everything I know from Jim Harbaugh.”

After being benched for ineffective play, Kurt Coleman took full advantage of his opportunity to start at safety for the Philadelphia Eagles as they visited the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field on a beautiful, sunny day in Landover, Maryland. Starting in place of Jarrad Page, Coleman went on to intercept Redskins QB Rex Grossman 3 times as the Eagles topped the Redskins 20-13 in a game that was not as close as the final score would indicate.

Coleman may have helped usher in the John Beck era in Washington as Grossman was benched in the fourth quarter for the popular backup. Beck has been named the starter for next week’s game against the Carolina Panthers.

The win propels the preseason favorite Eagles back into the NFC East race as they are now 2-4 while the division leading New York Giants are 4-2.

Nursing a badly sprained foot, Big Ben took the field against the surging Tennessee Titans engendering only lukewarm confidence among the Pittsburgh Steeler faithful. After being pushed around and beaten (and beaten up) by Houston the week before, the 2-2 Steelers, the defending AFC champions, were looking old and vulnerable. That all changed Sunday afternoon as the Steeler defense rose up to stuff Chris Johnson, holding him to 51 yards while Ben put on a clinic, completing 24 of 34 passes for 228 yards and 5 touchdowns. Behind this nearly flawless offensive and defensive performance, the Steelers dominated the game, building a 21-3 lead and eventually winning 38-17.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers, new members of the increasingly ridiculously named Big Ten conference, welcomed traditional power Ohio State to Lincoln. The Huskers defeated the Buckeyes 34-27 after trailing by 21 points in the third quarter, due in large part to the performance of their burly running back, Rex Burkhead. Burkhead bulled his way through the Luckeyes for 119 yards on 26 carries and caught 5 passes for another 59 yards. Most of the damage came in the second half as the Nebraska offensive line wore out the Ohio State defenders and Burkhead ploughed through the holes for large gains. The 21 point deficit was the biggest ever ovecome by a Nebraska team.